Guyanese in New York hold forum on ‘ballot box martyrs’

Dear Editor,
The Guyanese Solidarity Movement (GSS) in NY, along with the 100th Anniversary Foundation and other co-sponsors, held a forum last Sunday to pay tribute to the ballot box martyrs of 1973, as well as to remember the rigged referendum of 1978 that led to the foisting of the authoritarian Burnham constitution.
The forum, held in Richmond Hill, also discussed potential electoral fraud in the 2020 elections, and offered suggestions on combating potential electoral fraud.
Discussants expressed fear that the next election will be rigged similar to what took place between 1966 and 1992. They suggested that a strong, independent-minded GECOM chair is needed to guard against potential fraud.
The organisers of the forum wanted to memorialise the Berbice ballot box martyrs Bholanath Parmanand and Jagan Ramessar, and others who were injured when soldiers opened fire on them during a peaceful exercise. The two Guyanese patriots were killed by GDF forces as they protested the removal of genuine ballot boxes at Number 63 Primary School, Corentyne during the rigged 1973 elections.  The election was massively rigged.
The speakers paid glowing tributes to the martyrs and those injured, as well as those who struggled for free and fair elections during the years of the PNC dictatorship. Many lost their lives and/or were savagely beaten by thugs during this period.
The forum also remembered the rigged referendum of 1978 and the return of democracy on 5th October 1992, when the PPP/C was re-elected to government after the first democratic elections in post- independent Guyana.
Speakers included attorney-at-law Rakesh Rampertab, Dr Tara Singh and Dr Leslie Ramsammy, the former Minister of Health and Agriculture in the PPP government.
The speakers plan to approach US members of Congress, the Carter Center, and other NGOs to assist in guaranteeing free and fair elections in 2020. They urge Guyanese to lobby politicians worldwide to put pressure on the Government of Guyana to hold a free and fair election.

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram